Our approach

QE Health Model of Practice

It asserts that:

To be healthy, a person needs to experience optimal levels of functioning in their physical, mental and social lives from their perspective.

People don’t see themselves nor experience things as physical, mental and social ‘bits’ – they experience life holistically. Pain effects the whole person and there is no separation in the mind between past, present and future. Past events, whether that physical (disease/injury), relationship (abuse/loss) or mental (loneliness, uncertainty, fear) affect present experiences of pain.

Physical, mental and social states are constantly changing – the reality of this is painful because it is scary.

Change is not only about gaining something new – it also involves the loss of old, familiar things. Change is a mixture of gain and loss, of happiness and sadness. Change is painful.

The only thing that is constant and continuous for people throughout their life is the essence of self, their sense of ‘I’, the spirit of the person.

People feel well when they are gaining something that grows and strengthens their ‘I’ and outweighs what they are losing.

For a person to feel well in all the aspects of their self, they have to take responsibility for their health; they have to be the leader in the process of moving towards full health.

Health professionals cannot make change, they can facilitate change.

Individuals need to be shown the possible health choices, which are:

Focus on regaining all lost functioning – physical, mental and social – be past orientated

Focus on the tragedy of the situation, surrender and immerse oneself in emotions – be present orientated

Focus on the future and exploring what can be gained out of the situation – be future orientated

Only the individual can make the choice which of these are his/her predominant focus.

Health professionals are responsible to provide information that give people the knowledge of these choices but in a manner that respects where the person is and their right to either remain there or change.

Health professionals are responsible to acknowledge, reinforce, encourage and help people identify their potential.

Health professionals must understand and respect the magnitude of the uncertainty, emotional and mental turmoil of letting go of what is familiar and moving into a completely new zone; they need to understand that change is traumatic.

The QE Model of Health Change is not a one-step process, it’s a life time spiral of development.

Health professionals need to acknowledge that they often are the ones with power in health interactions. People are vulnerable because health professionals have the right to intervene in their lives.